


but the stars burn all the brighter

by Unuora



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Flagrantly made up magical creatures watch out, Gen, Tina and Newt are the founders of that club and they want you to know it, but this really is just a little blurb of a fix-it fic, go figure, protect Credence please
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 12:42:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8668102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unuora/pseuds/Unuora
Summary: There is a boy in a wreck of a house in Manhattan. It is dark, very dark, and it swallows him whole.Hufflepuffs are known for their loyalty, though, so Tina should've known from the start.The wizarding world is very good at finding the kids that are supposed to be forgotten. This boy will not be forgotten.





	

**Author's Note:**

> hi. i love these characters dearly. i know this fic will be thoroughly and ruthlessly debunked as soon as the next movie comes out, but hey i'm just having fun. i want newt and tina to adopt poor credence. he needs some real love and like, the same magical world shock that jacob got. stat.  
> i have a nasty feeling that won't happen.
> 
> i have so much work to do so take this. if i get it off my computer i'm less liable to poke at it like a concerned mother.

Tina hears from Newt not six months later. An owl comes swooping through her open window and she snorts into her coffee gracelessly. She knows it’s from Newt before she even has a chance to think about it twice. Those Brits! Owls? How on Earth is that subtle?

 _My dearest Tina_ , he writes, and her mouth twitches up at the corners. She flattens the letter out against the table, feeling the little imprints of the letters beneath her fingers.

 _I fear my book will be somewhat delayed. My deepest apologies but I must ask for your help again. It is of dire importance, as I’m sure you will agree._  
_I think we can save Credence._  
_I will be there at the earliest convenience,_  
_your friend,_  
  
_Newt._

And that’s it. Tina bits her lip contemplatively, mulling things over. The boy had died, hadn’t he? What did—

The sudden crack of apparition is almost overshadowed by the noise she makes slamming her knees into the kitchen table. Tina barely saves herself from an abrupt trip to the ground, flailing arms and all, and Newt is just standing there on the other side of the table. Staring. The owl perched on the napkin holder tilts its head at the same angle as Newt does.

“Hey,” he says, “Sorry. Um, you got my letter?”

Slumped against the back of the chair she can only fathom a scathing glare. She puffs a breath at a strand of hair in her face. Newt smiles sheepishly.

“Is this a Brit thing too?” She pulls herself up with about as much dignity as she can muster, tucking her hair back behind her ear and pretending she isn’t in her pajamas. “Barging in without warning?”

“Erm,” he mumbles, glancing around. His eyes must catch the clock on the wall because his eyes flick to Tina, looking up and down. “It’s rather… early here, isn’t it?”

She gives him a look, “Did you just apparate here from London?” Another sheepish smirk and a shrug.

“You _what?_ You could’ve died!” She takes a better look at him and she realizes he has his briefcase with him. She yelps, jumping to her feet fast enough that her chair falls with a crash. “And that case! No! Nuh-uh. Get that out of here! Newt!” He at least has the decency to wince.

She approaches him a stormy fury but he placates her with his hands on her shoulders. The simple motion stops her when she sees the determination in his eyes.

A hesitant smile plays his lips, “I wouldn’t have come unless I was serious. Please. Just come with me.”

“But…” a sigh, she can’t look at those eyes, she’s _weak_. “Okay, but if you cause mayhem again I’m not helping you,” she says after only a moment. Newt smiles and lets his hands drop, giving her the opportunity to grab her wand off the table and transfigure her pajamas into something passable. She knows that if she leaves Newt alone there surely _will_ be mayhem.

She grabs his arm after _accio_ -ing her hat into her hand. “Okay,” she says.

“Okay,” he says, then she’s just left looking up at blue eyes, and in between blinks they’re tucked away in a corridor near the bustling streets of New York.

Newt peers over the corner and visibly hesitates before the unyielding flow of the crowds. Tina easily sweeps into the action leaving Newt to scramble to catch up.

“So,” Tina says, letting Newt pull ahead and lead, “Credence?”

“Yes,” he says, “I think he survived that last encounter. I can’t be entirely sure but I saw something and I…”

Tina bites her lip, “If he is alive I doubt the MACUSA knows... They’ve pretty firmly shelved the case.”

“Exactly,” Newt says, taking a sharp right that makes her jog to catch up. He walks quickly and by the time she looks up she realizes that they’re on Pike Street. “Which is why they haven’t looked for him.”

“But Newt… It’s been six months.” She’s shaking her head but Newt is fearlessly jumping up the steps and throwing the doors open.

It’s dark. It smells of dust and mold and despair. Slanted light slips through the dirty glass, revealing the debris from the last encounter with the obscurus. 

The house is like a dementor, paralyzing, soulless and daunting. It stops them both in their tracks for a moment.

Neither of them reaches for their wands, but they sneak through the wreckage carefully. The fear is a living creature in places like this, and they both feel it down to their bones. Newt is the one to first brave the stairs, each step with an echoed creak from the warping floorboards.

Tina finally finds her voice and she calls out, “Credence?” The silence feels thick in the dust and dim light. She quickly follows Newt up the stairs. He’s gently pushing a door open when she finds him, revealing a room much darker than the rest of the house. This room has no windows, only an uncovered light in the ceiling. But… it smells. It smells with the tang of urine and vomit, and reeks of the unwashed.

Only then does Newt pull out his wand, casting a wordless _lumos_ in the silence.

The tiny space lights up and there’s a bed, piles of clothes and indiscernible objects, and a boy tucked in the far corner. Eyes open in two slits that burn in the darkness, hot with rage and anguish.

“Credence?” Tina gestures for Newt to lower his wand, and takes a timid step forward, her hands spread.

“Stop,” Credence’s voice comes out mangled with disuse. He sounds like an animal. Tina stops, Newt hovering uncertainly behind her.

“Credence…” Tina says, voice pleading.

“Stop,” Credence says again, softer this time. “Don’t make me hurt you.” His voice cracks on the words and the glow of his eyes are hidden when he tucks his face into his arms.

“Credence, we don’t want to hurt you,” Newt says, hushed, “You have immense power and we can help you control it. You don’t have to hurt anyone.” Credence’s head jerks up at that, eyes again eerily alight in the darkness.

“I know…” Tina hesitates, “I know the things the world has shown you about magic aren’t good, but Newt and I can protect you. You don’t have to be hurt like that ever again.”

Credence is silent for a moment, then, “You can show me magic?”

Tina looks back at Newt over her shoulder.  

“Hold on,” he murmurs, easing his suitcase down and pulling it open. Newt sticks his arm in so far that his shoulder disappears, and Credence leans forward ever so slightly. “Where are you, you little bugger,” Newt mutters before pulling his arm back with something white and fuzzy. He lets the case slam shut, clipping the locks before turning back to Credence with the fuzzy thing in both hands.

“It’s an Adfectusaurus. They’re very old, very kind and… very furry.” The thing unfurls, peaking over the tail curled around its front. “Her name is Mutie.” The little creature pulls itself up on its hind legs, tilting its head curiously. Its whiskers and the little nubs of horns crackle with magic.

Credence watches it intently.

Mutie floats a few inches out of Newt’s hands and he slowly takes his hands back, letting them rest on his knees. Mutie drifts so she’s dangling upside down, still facing Credence. When he doesn’t move Mutie sparks slightly, whiskers twitching, and bubbles pop into existence all around her. They float carefully around the room, and Credence just watches wide-eyed.

Newt clears his throat gently, “Not all magic is bad, and… not all people are bad. We can really help you… you’ve hurt enough.”

Credence reaches his hand towards Mutie slowly, and she makes a little noise, whiskers twitching again. He jerks and gasps when magic runs across his fingertips, breathing out something that’s close to a laugh when it doesn’t hurt.

Newt and Tina share a glance as Credence reaches further, both hands shaking. Mutie seems to understand, diving into Credence’s hands with another little noise. Something like a tremulous smile crosses his face as he brings his hands closer. Mutie nuzzles against his cheek and Credence hunches his shoulders protectively.

When Mutie sparks again a chocolate cake appears on the floor. Then a whole turkey, a box of doughnuts, and a still steaming cup of hot chocolate, half full.

Newt winces sheepishly again, “Uhm,” he says to both Credence and Tina’s stares, “Adfectusauruses are somewhat skilled legilimens among other things, so, uhm. I’d suppose you’re hungry? We may want to take care of that before she steals more things.”

 Tina fixes a glare on him that he pretends not to see in the dim light. Mutie seems to be enjoying herself though, and she charms some scraps of paper on the ground into a flock of fluttering butterflies. Tina can’t help but smile at the child-like wonder in Credence’s face.

“So,” she says, drawing Credence’s attention back to her. “Will you come with us?” Mutie jumps on his shoulder, and when Tina extends a hand to let him up he takes it. He’s clearly weakened but is trying hard not to show it.

“Is Queenie home?” Newt asks quietly, “The case isn’t really fitted for anything that isn’t… um, an Erumpent.”

Tina is still holding Credence’s hand. He’s watching her through a shade of bangs. She gives his hand a gentle squeeze and a tentative smile and he relaxes a little.

“Listen, Credence” she says timidly, “We’re going to apparate somewhere. Have you ever apparated?”

“Uhm, what do the muggles call it,” Newt mutters after a moment of incomprehension. “Telephoning? Has a wizard ever used magic to jump from one space to another?”

Credence gives a hesitant nod.

“We don’t have to do it,” Tina jumps in, “We can always take a taxi or the bus if you want.”

But Credence shakes his head briefly, squeezing the hand still in Tina’s. “No,” he says quietly, “I want to.”

Mutie floats to rest on Credence’s other hand and Newt places a hand on Tina’s shoulder. “Hold on,” she says and they pop out of existence, leaving the dark room behind.

Through the cracked window in the foyer a little paper butterfly flutters up, up, up.…

 

**Author's Note:**

> okay. okay.  
> so i have three more of the most grueling weeks of studying or alternatively, dying, to do but this happened and i really, dearly want to write more.  
> i hope you enjoyed this premature creation of mine. off i go to the front lines of higher education, hopefully i'll be back with more!


End file.
